Air lance for blowing out superheater elements and the like



Nov; 20, 1956 w. J. VOGEL ET AL 2,770,830

AIR LANCE FOR BLOWING OUT SUPERHEATER ELEMENTS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan.9, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. l.

su r dhr Hui" Superhcdir 4 x I Q i r mvzu'rons l I r i WiliorlnKJ.Vgxgel m F mi mm 2 I BY Paul J. Kiefer Nov. 20, 1956 w. J. VOGEL 'ErAL2,770,830

AIR LANCE FOR BLOWING CUT SUPERHEATER ELEMENTS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan.9, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 kmm INVENTORS William J. VOQeI Emil Knuuz POU'\I- K er AT T NEY Nov. 20, 1956 w. J. VOGEL ETAL 2,770,830

AIR LANCE FOR BLOWING OUT SUPERHEATER ELEMENTS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan.9, 1951 3 Sheets-Shet 5 ll un Emil Knqutz BY Paul J. Klefer bqf nitedStates Patent AIR LANCE FOR BLOWING OUT SUPER- HEATER ELEMENTS AND THELIKE William J. Vogel, Upper Montclair, N. 1., Emil Knautz, Hartsdale,N. Y., and Paul J. Kiefer, Chattanooga, Tenn., assignors to CombustionEngineering, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of DelawareApplication January 9, 1951, Serial No. 205,136

Claims. c1. 15--406) This invention relates to lances for blowingforeign matter out of the interior of tubes and particularly for blowingwater and other foreign matter out of the tubular elements of steamsuperheaters and the like.

In large steam generating units the tubular elements of the steamsuperheaters or reheaters are often arranged so that solids and moisturecannot drain off, the solids presenting the possibility of clogging theelements and the moisture causing corrosion of the. elements. If atrapped accumulation of water within a tubular superheater elementshould freeze, it may injure the element. This can occur following ahydrostatic test of the superheater in a climate where a freezingtemperature prevails at the time.

To overcome these difliculties the superheater may, after a shut down ofthe steam generating. unit, be blown out with air at high velocity so asto rid the elements of the accumulated foreign matter. However, toeffectively clear all elements of foreign matter it has-been foundnecessary to blow out or lance each element separately. To do thisrequires the use of lance means that can be operated within the limitedspace of a superheater header.

Broadly stated, the object of this invention is to provide novel lancemeans placeable within the superheater or reheater header and thereeffective to'blow accumulated water and other foreign matter out of eachsuperheater or reheater element that is connected with the header.

A more specific object is novelly to design the foregoing lanceapparatus so that it can be inserted intotheheader interior throughconventional handhole openings in the header ends, and so that necessarymanipulation of the apparatus can conveniently be accomplished from theheader exterior.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be come apparent fromthe following description of illustrative embodiments when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a vertical section of a superheater header show ing a form oflance according to the invention mounted within the header in positionto blow through one of the tubular superheater elements.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section of the lance of Fig. 1 takengenerally on line 22 of Fig. 4 and to alarger scale than the Fig. 1'showing.

Fig. 3 is a plan view taken on line.3-3 of Fig. 2 indicating howindividual portions of the lance can be inserted through a hand holeopening represented in dashed and dotted outline.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the new lance taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section, similar to Fig. 2, showing amodified form of the new lance.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the lance, generally designated as A, ismounted within the superheater header 2 so as to be alignedover one ofthe tubular superheater elements 3 as shown, .by means to be describedpresently. In the form here illustrativelyrepresented, thisilance'Acomprisesa hollow body portion 4 having a chamber 5, a cylinder 6removably mounted on the body 4'as by screw thread 7 (Fig. 2), a piston8 within the cylinder 6 (see also Fig. 2), and a piston rod 9 upon whichthe piston 8 is mounted as by a stud 10 passing through a bore 11 in thepiston. The stud 10 is screwed into the piston rod 9 and receives a nut12 to hold the piston 8 onto the rod 9.

The portion of the piston rod extending downwardly through the body 4and beyond is hollow containing a bore 13 and is provided with amultiplicity of ports 14 which establish communication for fluid flowfrom the chamber 5 (see Fig. 2) of the body 4 into the bore 13 and outthrough the bottom of the piston rod 9; The bottom of the piston rod 9is provided with a nozzle 15, here shown as screwed onto the rod, whichfits snugly into the bore 16 in the header 2 opposite the end of thetubular superheater element 3 with which the lance apparatus is shown asbeing aligned.

Preferably this nozzle 15 has a spherical surface 17 fitting into'thebore 16 and is provided with a packing ring 17' in a groove as shown.The piston 8 is preferably provided with a packing ring 18 in agrooveadjacent the inner wall of cylinder 6 and with another packing ring 19in a groove around stud 10. Both packing rings 18 andv 19 (Fig. 2)areheld in place by the removable piston head 20 under nut 12.

The body portion 4 of the lance A is provided with aligned bores 21 and22 through which the piston rod 9 slides longitudinally. The bores 21and 22 are preferably provided with packing rings '23. and 24 in groovesto prevent air leaking from. the chamber 5. A threaded.

opening 25 permits the attachment of an air hose 26 for delivering airunder pressure into the chamber 5, thence to flow through ports 14 intothe. bore 13 of piston rod 9 and through nozzle 15 into the superheaterelement 3 being acted upon. As may be seen in Fig.3,

the transverse shape of the body 4 is such that it will passlongitudinally through a hand hole such as 27, shown by Fig. 3 in dashedand dotted outline and by Fig. l as to location in the header endportion.

The aforesaid cylinder 6 is provided with ports 28' and 29; above andbelow the top and bottom of the pis ton 8 in its extreme positions oftravel. Each port '28 and 29 has a threaded portion for the attachmentof air hoses 30 and 31 by which air under pressure may be admitted intothe .cylinder 6 to drive the piston 8 and therewith the piston rod 9respectively down or up.

To support the lance Awithin the header 2, shoes 32 are provided andfastened, as 'by welding, to a plate 33 which in turn is bolted to thebody portion 4 by knurled headed screws shown at 34 in Fig. 2. .Fig 4shows the shoes 32 to'be placed at about degrees around the innercircumference of the header 2, and shows a slight clearance between eachshoe 32 and the header. The top of the cylinder 6 is shown as contactingthe header 2 because the piston 3, as represented in Fig.

2, is forced by air pressure (on top of the .piston) to its lowestposition, that is, where the nozzle 15'is firmly seated by the piston inthe bore 16 of the header 2, in line with the tubular superheaterelement 3.

As a consequence the cylinder 6 is pushed up to con tact the header 2and therewith the body portion 4 is raised and the shoes 32 are liftedout of contact from the inner surface of the header 2. Obviously theshoes 32 may be placed at other positions, or at angles other than 90degrees around the inner circumference of the header. For example,should lance A operate on. a

through i a hand hole :27.

Thebody portion 4 of the lance is further provided,

with threaded recesses 35' (see Fig. 2), into which rods 35 are screwed;these rods being placed on opposite sides of the body portion 4 andpreferably in substantial alignment with the axis of the header 2. Akeyway 36 is provided in both the recesses 35' and the rods 35 toreceive a key to assure the rotation of the lance A about the axis ofthe header 2 by means of the rods 35. An extension 37 to one or to bothrods 35, Fig. 1, is fastened to the rod 35 by means of a clamp 38, saidextension continuing through the header 2 and out through a hand hole 39at the end 40 of the header, Fig. l:

The outer end of said rod extension 37 has fastened thereto a cross barshown at 41 in Fig. 1, whereby the lance A may be rotated. By thisextension 37 the lance A is advanced longitudinally through the header 2to each element 3 that is to be acted upon, and the extension may bemarked at the header end 40 for the location of each element 3 by saidmarks. The rod 35 and its extension 37 may be supported by additionalshoes 42 clamped thereto as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4.

One or more additional hand holes shown at 27 in Fig. 1 are provided inthe header 2 adjacent the end hand hole 39 through which the lance A,its rods 35, extensions 37 and shoes 32, 42 are assembled, and the airhoses 30, 31, and 26 are attached; the represented arrangementof theseopenings 27 and 39 being more or less conventional.

In operation of the lance apparatus shown by Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, thebody portion 4, the cylinder 6, the piston 8 and piston rod 9,preferably all assembled, are first passed through one of said handholes 27 into the header 2; or the body portion 4 and cylinder 6 may beseparately passed into the header and assembled therein. The shoes 32are next passed through one of said hand holes into the header andfastened to the lance body 4 by means of the knurled screws 34; the mainair hose 26 is thereupon passed through the end hand hole 39 into theheader and is connected to the lance body 4; one or both rods 35 arepassed through one of said hand holes into the header and fastened tothe lance body 4; and the shoes 42 follow and are clamped to the rod.The rod extension 37 is next passed through the end hand hole 39 intothe header and clamped to the rod 35. Finally, the control air hoses 30and 31 are passed through the end hand hole 39 into the header and areconnected to the ports 28 and 29 of the cylinder 6.

Air under pressure is now admitted into the cylinder 6 beneath thepiston 8 through control hose 31 causing the piston to rise and lift thenozzle 15 up and clear of the inside wall of the header 2. The lance Ais then supported by the shoes 32 which now rest upon inside wall of theheader 2. By means of the portion of the extension 37 projecting throughthe end hand hole 39, the lance A may now be slid on shoes 32longitudinally of the header and placed over the bore 16 of asuperheater tubular element 3. When in this position the air underpressure beneath the piston 8 is released through control hose 31 andair under pressure is admitted above the piston 8 through control hose30, thereby jamming the nozzle 15 into the bore 16 of header 2 leadinginto the superheater element 3. Air under pressure may now be admittedthrough main hose 26 into the chamber 5, through ports 14, thencethrough the bore 13 in the piston rod 9 and down into the superheaterelement 3 to blow it clear of foreign matter.

When the element 3 has been blown, the air under pressure in main hose26 is shut off and the piston 8 is again raised by releasing the airabove it through control hose 30 and admitting air under pressurebeneath it through control hose 31. The lance A is now ready to moveinto position over another element 3 and the steps described above arerepeated to blow that element.

After all elements are blown, the lance of Figs. 1-2-3-4 is moved to aposition in the header adjacent 4 said end hand holes and isdisassembled for removal from the header. It will be understood thatsuitable valves (not shown) are provided in the respective air hoses(main 26 and control 3031) to govern the air flow into and out of thelance.

The modification of the lance shown in Fig. 5, generally designated asA, is similar to the lance A of Fig. 2 except that the port 29 of Fig. 2is reduced in size to become a vent 29' which is open to the atmosphereand the control air hose 31 of Fig. 2 is omitted. The gasket 23 and itsrecess in the body portion 4 of Fig. 2, is lowered to a position shownat 23' in Fig. 5; and the body portion 4 in Fig. 5 is provided with arecess 43 extending from the cylinder 6 down to just above gasket 23,which recess accommodates a spring 44 under compression.

This spring 44 urges the piston 8 upwardly in the cylinder 6 so thatwhen the air pressure on top of the piston is released through port 28via control hose 30, the piston 8 and therewith the pisotn rod 9 willrise and lift the nozzle 15 from the bore 16 (see Figs. 1, 2, 4) over asuperheater element 3. By admitting the air under pressure throughcontrol hose 30 onto the top of piston 8, the piston 8 is moveddownward, compressing spring 44 and again driving the nozzle 15 into thebore 16 of a superheater element 3.

The operation of assembling the lance A shown in Fig. 5 and moving itinto position over an element 3 with the aid of rods 35 and theextensions 37 as shown in Fig. l, is the same as described above for theassembling and moving the lance A in Figs. l23-4. After the nozzle 15has been seated in superheater element bore 16 in the manner aforesaid,the air is admitted through the main hose 26 into chamber 5, through thehollow piston rod 9 and thence into the element 3 to blow it out.

Looking once more at Figs. 1 to 5, it will be obvious that the rods 35and extensions 37 shown by those drawing views may be omitted and themain air conduit 26 :may take the form of rigid tube which may be usedto advance the lance A, A, through the header 2.

While there have been shown and described illustrative embodiments ofour invention, it will be understood that changes in construction,combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What we claim is:

1. For use in blowing tubular elements connected with a header that hasapertures receiving those elements and that further has hand holesthrough which access may be had to the header interior, a lancecomprising assembled parts each of which is formed to be passablethrough one of said hand holes, one of said parts comprising a bodyportion bounding a chamber, a cylinder fastened to said body portion, apiston in said cylinder and a piston rod extending from said pistonthrough aligned bores in said body portion in sliding fit and throughthe chamber thereof and beyond, a bore in the portion of said piston rodextending through said chamber and beyond and ports in said rodconnecting said bore with said chamber for fluid flow from the chamberinto said bore and out of the extending end of said rod into a selectedone of said elements, a nozzle on said extending end of said piston rodformed to fit snugly into the aperture in said header that receives saidselected element, a fluid inlet in said body portion communicating withsaid chamber, a main conduit connected to said inlet to deliver blow outfluid under pressure into said chamber, ports on the wall of saidcylinder adjacent each end of said cylinder and conduits connected tosaid ports to deliver or release control fluid under pressure into orout of said cylinder above or below said piston to move said piston andtherewith said piston rod into and out of contact with said selectedaperture in said header, another of said parts being means supportingsaid lance in said header when said piston rod nozzle is out of contactwith said aperture in said header and means fastening said supportingmeans to said lance, still another of said parts being a manipulator rodmeans fastened to said lance and extending longitudinally through theheader whereby the lance may be advanced through the header forselective placement over any one of the aforesaid tubular elements thatare connected with the header, yet another of said parts being meanssupporting said manipulator rod means in said header and means fasteningsaid supporting means to said rod means within said header.

2. A lance for use in a boiler header to blow out the tubes connectedtherewith comprising a generally vertically disposed body portionbounding a chamber, a generally vertical hollow shaft extending throughthe body portion, being guided at the opposite ends thereof and havingits interior in communication with said chamber, a motor connected tothe upper end of said shaft operative to effect longitudinal movement ofthe shaft, the lower end of said shaft being adapted to be associatedwith one of said tubes when the shaft occupies its lower position, meansassociated with said body portion and including support membersengageable with the interior of the header wall effective to maintain apredetermined minimum distance between the lower end of the body portionand the header wall therebelow into which distance the lower end of theshaft retracts when in its upper position.

3. A lance as defined in claim 2 wherein the support members comprisetwo .pairs of angularly arranged shoes with the body portion disposedintermediate the two pairs.

4. A lance as defined in claim 2 wherein said motor comprises cylinderand piston means operated by fluid pressure.

5. A lance as defined by claim 2 wherein said motor comprises cylinderand piston means operated by fluid pressure and including spring meansurging said shaft towards its upper position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS793,834 Hodge July 4, 1905 929,377 Beland et a1 July 27, 1909 1,183,417Zeitz May 16, 1916 1,441,431 Kirgan Jan. 9, 1923 1,512,360 Orr Oct. 21,1924 1,709,167 DWyer, Jr Apr. 16, 1929 1,773,801; Wilson Aug. 26, 19301,836,101 Young Dec. 15, 1931 1,982,590 Church et al Nov. 27, 19341,994,616 Leitzell Mar. 19, 1935 2,358,557 Boyd et al. Sept. 19, 19442,361,660 Sneddon Nov. 27, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 286,594 Germany Aug. 16,1915

